It is all about the latest equipment and techniques, new adventures and places to travel, learning from the best or the mistakes they have made along the way, and great outdoor stories.

Monday, October 24, 2011

Ghosts of Everest

Rating: *****

An expedition of veteran mountaineers are climbing Mount Everest seeking the remains of George Leigh Mallory and Andrew Comyn "Sandy" Irvine to answer the question: what happened to them? In 1999, they found Mallorys remains 27,000 feet up on Everest. The expedition was searching for less then 2 hours until they found a frozen body. Jake Norton began scratching out a memorial stone "Andrew Irvine: 1902-1924." "This isn't him," Politz said. Everybody else looked at him like he was crazy. The body was still lying there, with natural-fiber clothes, the fur-lined leather helmet, the kind of rope that was around him, there wasn't even an oxygen apparatus on him. Finally, the expedition started separation the clothing that the body had. One of the shirt collars had "G.Leigh Ma..." on the laundry label. two more articles of clothing were found with his name on it. Finally, they realized the body was actually George Leigh Mallory.

I enjoy this article because it shows up that even though Mount Everest looks great and easy to climb up on a nice day, the weather can easily change and you can become stranded up there. If you even get injured at all, which is what happened to Mallory "The legs extended downhill, one broken, the other gently crossed over it." This man had died because he broke his leg so far away from any help, it shows how careful you need to be when you're so far away from civilization or help. This article is very informative and it helps us see the other side of Mount Everest, the ravaging destroying side that has taken so many lives.